Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Police Department

 

To:

David Corliss, City Manager

From:

Captain Bill Cory

Cc:

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

 

Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager

 

Casey Toomay, Budget Manager

 

Tarik Khatib, Chief of Police

Date:

July 8, 2013

Re:

Spillman Technologies CAD/RMS project

 

BACKGROUND

In March, 2011, several technological infrastructure projects were identified as important for the continuation of critical public safety service provision as well as to comply with new federal mandates concerning radio frequencies.   The projects included the replacement of all portable (person carried) and mobile (affixed in vehicles) radios, the replacement of the countywide radio infrastructure, a new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, and a new Records Management System (RMS).

 

By the end of 2012, the portable and mobile radios had been replaced.   In November, 2011, the City and County agreed to move forward on the project to replace the radio infrastructure.  In July of 2012 the City of Lawrence entered into a funding agreement with the Board of County Commissioners to replace the current radio infrastructure with the new P25 800 MHz digital radio system.  The funding agreement stated that the cost of improvements will be shared by Douglas County and the City of Lawrence. Douglas County will pay 34% with the city paying 66% of the cost.  The total cost of the improvement was estimated to be $6,600,000.00.  In the agreement it states that the City of Lawrence’s portion of the project shall not exceed $3,095,384.00.  The City has already paid $1,095,000.00 towards the project.  The second payment of $1,000,000.00 will be sent in October of 2013 with the balance of the project to be paid in October of 2014.  In the agreement it states the City will receive 66% credit against the City’s share of the operating expenses of the system from any payment received from the University of Kansas with respect to the improvements.  After the funding agreement was in place the County received $320,593.00 from the University of Kansas for radio infrastructure improvements. The City’s portion of those funds is $211,591.38.  The funds received from the University of Kansas were not factored into the initial costs each entity would pay for the radio infrastructure improvements.  

 

In 2012, the 911 Fee Fund was identified as a potential source of funding for the needed CAD replacement.   The 911 Advisory Board recommend that the funds be utilized for the replacement CAD system which is an acceptable use for such funds.  This project has proceeded concurrently with the radio infrastructure project.   This has been beneficial as the systems are complimentary of each other and the ability to replace them at the same time is an efficient way to perform the upgrades.   Both are essential to the daily operations of the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) that handles all incoming calls Lawrence, Baldwin, Eudora, and Douglas County with respect to police, sheriff and fire/medical emergencies.  A vetting process was completed to determine which vendor could supply a new CAD system that would be most beneficial for Lawrence, Douglas County, Baldwin and Eudora.  Spillman Technologies was identified as the best solution.

 

Spillman Technologies also provides an RMS component (module) that interfaces with their CAD system.  A new RMS has been something that had been previously identified as a need.  A new RMS would address several issues of the current outdated system.  The current system, Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS), is outdated, slow, maintenance heavy and is several years past its life cycle.  If the City were to purchase the RMS system in conjunction with the CAD system there is a large cost savings that would otherwise not be realized if the RMS system was purchased as a standalone unit. This cost savings is the result of partnering with Douglas County and the other cities within Douglas County to share the RMS as well as design and installation occurring simultaneously with the CAD project.  There is also a greatly improved ability to have one database that every agency in the County could utilize as well as the increased flow of information directly from CAD to the RMS component with increased efficiency. The total cost of the CAD and RMS project is $1,267,524.09.  The cost of the CAD system is being funded from the 911 Fee Fund at a cost of $857,123.77.  The remaining cost of $410,400.32 is for the software and hardware for the RMS system.  Each entity using the system would contribute to the cost of the project: Lawrence ($202,422.16), Douglas County ($189,378.16), Eudora ($9,300), and Baldwin ($9,300).

 

DISCUSSION

Douglas County, Baldwin, and Eudora want to move forward with the implementation of the Spillman RMS system.  If the City decides not to move forward it is anticipated that the other agencies will move to the new system without the City.  This will create a situation where the Lawrence Police Department will be at a disadvantage with information sharing and communication with the other Law Enforcement Agencies in Douglas County.  This may also increase future costs of upgrading the Lawrence Police Department’s RMS as a standalone project.       

           

FUNDING

The cost of the City of Lawrence’s portion of the RMS system is estimated at $202,422.16.  The City can use the savings from the radio infrastructure improvement funds received from the University of Kansas, $211,591.38.

 

ACTION REQUESTED

It is requested that the savings from the City’s share of the radio infrastructure project be used to fund the City of Lawrence’s portion of implementing a new countywide RMS.